Gonzalez, Reynolds, Marcum traded; Gillick to Hall

“I’m very excited to be in Boston and ready to beat the Yanks,” the newest Red Sox star said Monday.

While New York kept courting free agent Cliff Lee, other teams in the AL East began making trades at the winter meetings.

The Red Sox completed their swap for Gonzalez, getting the slugging All-Star first baseman from San Diego for minor league pitcher Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo, outfielder Reymond Fuentes and a player to be named.

Baltimore added a big bat _ and a bunch of strikeouts _ by acquiring Mark Reynolds from Arizona for right-handed relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio.

“Now that everybody is here in the same facility, the atmosphere is ripe to push through some things,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said.

Who knows _ maybe former AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke could switch sides before the session ends Thursday.

The last-place Diamondbacks were especially active, signing free agent Melvin Mora to help fill the third base hole left by Reynolds and nearing a two-year deal for reliever J.J. Putz.

Not every team was so successful on the first full day of the meetings.

The Oakland Athletics failed to reach a contract agreement with pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma during the allotted 30-day negotiating period, and he went back to his Japanese club.

Oakland’s bid was accepted under the bidding treaty between Major League Baseball and the Japanese commissioner’s office. But the star pitcher wanted much more than the A’s were willing to offer.

“We would like to express our appreciation to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles for the opportunity to negotiate with Mr. Iwakuma and we regret that an agreement could not be reached by today’s deadline,” A’s general manager Billy Beane said in a statement. “In this instance, the player was in a unique situation, being only one year away from free agency, and we fully respect and understand his position.”

Often, it takes a few days at this annual gathering for any real action. This time, it was brisk from the get-go.

“A lot of agents are claiming that their players are going to sign this week. Some will and some won’t,” Mets GM Sandy Alderson said. “There could be a run on starting pitching this week.”